How Free Grant Scams Work
The FTC website explains how free grant scammers defraud people:
The ads claim that you will qualify to receive a “free grant” for your education, your home repairs, your home business, or your unpaid bills. They say your application is guaranteed to be accepted, and you never have to repay the money. Then, the ad will ask you to claim your “free grant” by calling a toll-free number.
Once you make the call, a representative of the company will ask you some basic questions. They'll be trying to determine if you qualify to receive a grant. Here's a short list of sample questions they may ask:
-What's your address?
-How long have you lived at this address?
-Do you have a bank account?
-Do you have at least $150 in your account at this time?
After asking this set of questions, the representative will then ask you to hold while she determines your “eligibility” for the free grant. Later on, she comes back and congratulates you on your eligibility. Afterwards, she will then ask you to pay a one-time “processing fee” that can range from $95 to $200.
Tip! Don’t provide your financial account numbers, Social Security Numbers, or other personal information in response to free grant offers. Crooks “phish” for that information to steal your money and impersonate them for other illegal purposes.
Naturally, you will question this fee. But then, she will reassure you that the grant is guaranteed, and that if you're not satisfied, you'll get a refund. However, she won't offer to tell you all the conditions for a refund.
So what does this processing fee mean? Supposedly, the money is used to cover finding a grant source and sending you the appropriate application package in the mail. But what do you get in the mail instead? Not an application. Not even a source. Rather, you will get a list of agencies and foundations to which you must write and request an application. Pretty sneaky, considering the fact that you can get the same information from any public library or the Internet.
The FTC clarifies that if you ask an agency or foundation for money for personal use, you probably won't get it, even if you are financially needy. Take not that it says “probably” so there is a chance that you may get it.
If, for instance, you are a student with a financial need to get to college, the Federal Government provides student financial assistance in the form of loans, grants, gifts, scholarships, and even jobs, to help you.
But again, that is not saying that the money comes with no obligations. For student grants, you may have to maintain a certain grade point average or write an essay with a socio-civic thrust in order to receive free grant money.
Tip! Because grants are essentially free money, the funds available for them are limited. After all, government can only spare so much money for those in need and at the same time keep funding other projects they may have. For this reason, student grants will not usually fully fund all your educational expenses.
So now, the question left is how do you if a free grant offer is legitimate or not? Next pages are the top 8 tips to helping you steer clear of scams concerning free grants. | 
